While the pay that the Centinela Valley school board gave Superintendent Jose Fernandez is outrageous, I find it amazing that the Daily Breeze and many in the community continue to crucify Fernandez rather than hold the school board that agreed to the ridiculous incentive payments he requested.

Keep in mind that Fernandez did not steal, embezzle or defraud the Centinela Valley Union High School District. Centinela Valley wanted his services and entered into negotiations to hire Fernandez. The problem is that the school district did a horrible job in negotiating his contract and gave away far too much public school money to retain his services. This is what happens when people who have little business experience and even less experience negotiating contracts are put in governing positions they are not qualified for.

Rather than getting angry at Fernandez, parents of the Centinela Valley Union High School District should be calling for a recall of the school board members who voted in favor of his contract.

— Rod Guyton, Torrance

City Council, please reverse your decision

The Torrance City Council has issued a surprise ruling setting aside the provisions of the Hollywood Riviera Hillside Overlay by giving special consideration to an individual homeowner.

The request is to permit a second story. This construction violates the intent of the law to preserve quality of life and property values. The city of Torrance Planning Department’s staff denied this project and the Planning Commission unanimously agreed with the decision.

Council members Pat Furey, Kurt Weideman and Bill Sutherland testified this project should not be allowed.

A petition of 24 signatures along with several letters, four speakers and four directly affected neighbors stand against this project. They are concerned about views, light, privacy, flow of breezes and reduced property values.

The children and grandchildren of the Body Glove founder Bob Meistrell live across the street. Should their objections be denied after all they continue to do for our community?

The Department of Water and Power billing system is just another in the long list of DWP project failures and examples of wasteful spending. The DWP is the most budget-bloated department in the city of Los Angeles. Let’s hope the mayor and new DWP director can fix the ongoing problems, not just give those responsible another slap on the hand.